Saturday, March 30, 2013

ROSCOE, Texas - Driving along Interstate 20, it's hard to miss the large Confederate flag just east of Roscoe.

Over time, the flag has been viewed as a controversial symbol. Many relate it to negative, racially-fueled events in American history. Others say it's only a symbol of southern pride.

The flagpole was resurrected last August. The flag flying now was put up about a month ago. It is the most recognizable flag from the Civil War, originally used as the battle flag for the Army of Tennessee.

"I can see where people would be offended by it, but I'm not," said one Odessa native passing through the town.

"It's just people speaking out for America. Wanting things to go back the way they used to be," said one man from Munday.

"I think we're past that now. Well we should be anyways," said a Roscoe resident.

While the flag might bring up negative feelings for some, others say it's just a part of United States history.

Gaylan Harrison of Coahoma is part of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He said the flag was put up in the Roscoe cotton field to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War.

"This is part of my heritage. Why should i sweep mine under the rug because somebody doesn't like it?" Harrison said.

He said he's especially connected to the flag, as many of his ancestors fought in the Civil War.

"I have a lot of affection for that flag. I know what those men went through. I know what they did. I know what they sacrificed," Harrison said.

Harrison said he is tired of his organization being associated with groups he said have misused the flag.

"We're not any part of any of those organizations. The clan, the skinheads. That's not us. This was the flag of the soldiers," Harrison said. "It was for those men who went into battle so they could tell where their troops were."

As a former teacher, Harrison said he hopes it will spark conversations and encourage people to learn more about our country.

"I wish that everyone would do a little studying before they make decisions about whether things are good or bad," Harrison said.

That particular flag has been flying for 30 days, but the group switches them out to various other flags that represent the South.

Posted: 03/29/2013
Click photo to enlargeA Confederate flag is seen on display at the old Capitol, which... ((AP Photo/Michael Biesecker))«1»RALEIGH, N.C.—A Confederate battle flag hung inside the old North Carolina State Capitol last week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is being taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns.

The decision was announced Friday evening, hours after the Associated Press published a story about the flag, which officials said was part of an historical display intended to replicate how the antebellum building appeared in 1863. The flag had been planned to hang in the House chamber until April 2015, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of federal troops in Raleigh.
"This is a temporary exhibit in an historic site, but I've learned the governor's administration is going to use the old House chamber as working space," Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz said Friday night. "Given that information, this display will end this weekend rather than April of 2015."
Kim Genardo, the spokeswoman for Gov. Pat McCrory, said the exhibit that includes the Confederate battle flag will be relocated, possibly across the street to the N.C. Museum of History.
The decision was a quick about-face for the McCrory administration, which initially defended the display. Many people see the flag as a potent reminder of racial discrimination and bigotry.
State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison had said Thursday the flag should be viewed in what he called the proper historical context.
"Our goal is not to create issues," said Hardison, a Civil War re-enactor and history buff. "Our goal is to help people understand issues of the past. ... If you refuse to put something that someone might object to or have a concern with in the exhibit, then you are basically censoring history."
North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber was shocked Friday when he was shown a photo of the flag by the AP.
"He is right that it has a historical context," Barber said. "But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn't be offensive, then either you don't know the history, or you are denying the history."
Sessions of the General Assembly moved to a newer building a half-century ago, but the old Capitol building is still routinely used as a venue for official state government events. McCrory's office is on the first floor, as are the offices of his chief of staff and communications staff.
The Republican governor was in the House chamber where the Confederate flag hangs as recently as Thursday, when he presided over the swearing-in ceremony of his new Highway Patrol commander.
The presentation of the Confederate battle flag at state government buildings has long been an issue of debate throughout the South. For more than a decade, the NAACP has urged its members to boycott South Carolina because of that state's display of the flag on the State House grounds.
Prior to taking his current job in North Carolina in 2006, Hardison worked as director at the Mississippi home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which is operated as a museum and library owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group has led the fight in the South for the proud display of the Confederate flag, which it contends is a symbol of heritage, not hate.
Hardison said the battle flag was displayed with other flags described in the diary of a North Carolina woman who visited the Capitol in 1863. A large U.S. flag displayed in the Senate chamber is reminiscent of a trophy of war captured from Union troops at the Battle of Plymouth.
"I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to recreate this?" Hardison said. "I think we were all thinking along the same vein. ... The Capitol is both a working seat of government, in that the governor and his staff has his office there. But it is also a museum."
Hardison pointed out that the national flag used by the Confederate government, with its circle of white stars and red and white stripes, is still flown over the State Capitol dome each year on Confederate Memorial Day. The more familiar blood-red battle flag, featuring a blue "X" studded with white stars, was used by the rebel military.
David Goldfield, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of the book "Still Fighting the Civil War," said the battle flag can hold starkly different meanings depending on a person's social perspective.
"The history of the Confederate battle flag, how it was designed and formulated, how it has been used through the years, clearly states that it is a flag of white supremacy," Goldfield said. "I know current Sons of Confederate Veterans would dispute that, saying 'Hey, I'm not a racist.' But the fact remains that the battle flag was used by a country that had as its foundation the protection and extension of human bondage."
The NAACP's Barber said the McCrory administration eventually made the right call, but questioned how the decision to hang the flag was made in the first place.
"A flag should represent a banner of unity, not division," Barber said. "A substantive symbol and sign of our best history, not our worse. We cannot deny history but neither can we attempt to revision it in a way that glorifies the shameful and attempts to make noble that which is ignoble."

Recently, we "test marketed" rubber wristbands designed for students. They are simple, inexpensive items, gray, debossed with "SCV.ORG." Obviously, they function as a recruiting tool as well as a reference to our website.

Their value is far beyond that, however. It allows our young people to create a "club" of their classmates and friends that also respect their Confederate Heritage. The medium is one that has become very popular (Christian messages, Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong, etc.), particularly with young people.

The test group of wristands were distributed to our 20 largest camps -- we received some good feedback, and now we want to distribute them on a wider basis. GHQ has approximately 600 left. Please contact GHQ if your camp is interested in distributing these wristbands. GHQ will make supplies available until they are exhaused. In the future, after the existing stock is depleted, more wristbands will be made available for a small charge.

As we approach the end of the school year, we want to use the wristbands in conjunction with promoting the Sam Davis Youth Camp.

Please help us by getting these to young people that are student SCV members or camp attendees.

Friday, March 15, 2013

The GEC met beginning at 11 am on Friday, March 15 in the Board Room of the New Jefferson Davis Presidential Library at Beauvoir, Biloxi, MS

Items Covered:

1. Meeting opened with Prayer, Pledge, Salute to Confederate Flag and reading of The Charge.

2. AIC Ritchie Called the roll - Quroum present.

3. CIC Introduces Rick Forte of the Beauvoir Board who welcomes the GEC to Beauvoir.

4. Minutes of the Fall GEC meeting and a GEC teleconference approved.

5. Convention Planning Committee Report on recommendation of the Committee for the 2016 Reunion given by Chairman Ringhoffer. Committee recommended the 2016 Reunion be held in Richardson, TX. GEC accepted the recommendation of the committee which will be presented to the Convention in Vicksburg for final decision by the Confederation.

6. Executive Director Report: Director Sewell spoke on the following.

A. Currently there are 27,854 members, of which 3445 are Life Members
B. Only 8 remaning Real Sons in the Sons of Confederate Veterans
C. Elm Springs in good condition needing only minor repairs
D. Arkansas Division has aquired a piece of property for the installation of a flag. GEC voted to accept the property from the AR Division.

7. CIC Givens made comments to the GEC regarding the Sesquicentennial Event and the current Heritage fight in Memphis regarding the attempt to change the names of Forrest Park, Jefferson Davis Park and Confederate Park. CIC attended monument dedication in Monroe, NC for black Confederates. CIC Givens stated the Vision Program is moving ahead. Update given to having the Veteran distributed in electronic format. CIC stated that every member of the SCV should visit Beauvoir and make it a point to see SCV owned / operated attractions and monuments. He also noted that he has visited many camps and SCV events since the Fall 2012 GEC Meeting. One event of special note was the recent S.D. Lee Institute held in St. Augustine, Florida.

8. Compatriot Kevin Stone, head of the Mechanized Calvary (MC), spoke briefly to the GEC. Mentioned recent fundraiser held for treatment of childhood cancer. Mechanized Calvary recently held a meeting at Elm Springs. Currently approximately 1830 members of the MC.

9. Lt. Commander Kelly Barrow gave his report.

A. SCV Leadership Workshop was recently held in Richmond, VA.
B. SCV had ad in American History Magazine- special edition showing Gen. George Picket on the cover and highlighting events of the year 1863.
C. SCV Recruiting Tent is now available for use by Division, Brigades etc..
D. Proration of Dues helps members rejoin and to get new members to join late in the dues year. GHQ can assist camps with proration questions.
E. April 20, Leadership Workship to be held in Paducah, KY, June 2 another will be held in Arizona. On July 6 a Leadership workshop will be held in Gettysburg, PA along with the Culp Brothers Monument Dedication . Possible future workshops in KS, TX and FL.

10. Chief of Heritage Defense Hogan reported to the GEC. Recommends efforts muct be made to give the truth about General Forrest needs to be given to the public. Victory in Colorado to get school board to reverse its anti-Confederate flag policy.

11. Compatriot Lee Millar spoke on the heritage fight now taking place in Memphis regarding the attempt to rename Forrest Park, Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park. City Council passed resolution to rename parks. TN Legislature appears soon to pass act to protect monuments, parks etc.. act would protect park name in Memphis. Compatriot Millar states the Memphis public is on the side of keeping the parks' Confederate themed names.

13. Compatriot Ed Ray spoke about preparation for the reunion to be held in Richmond in 2015.

14. Compatriot Gene Hogan spoke about the 2014 Charleston Reunion.

15. Chief of Protocol Lee Millar discussed the proposed change to the Debutant Guidelines to modify the requirements who may be an approved to be an escort for the debutant at the reunion ball. GEC approved the change. Chief of Protocol to approve the selection of an escort in the event the escort is not a relative of the debutant. The GEC also gave a special waiver to allow a 15 year old to be a debutant, one year less than the usual requirement that the debutant be 16 years old. This waiver was granted due to illness of a family member and the family's wish that all three of their daughters be presented at the same reunion.

16. Compatriot Carl Ford addressed the GEC on the topic of education. Recommends the information for teachers on the CD produced in Georgia be made available on SCV.org. Also states the scv needs to use social media and other internet venues to get information to the public.

17. Chief of Heritage Defense Gene Hogan spoke about the possibility of the SCV divisions and camps developing better relations and contacts with local law enforcement to show that the SCV is a local service organization. It is also recommended that local law enforcement be included in SCV events when possible. Developments on this inititive will be posted to the Telegraph and Blog.

18. Past CIC McMichael gave a report on the Presidential Library building dedication slated for Saturday, March 16, 2013.

19. AIC Steve Ritchie reported that he has been sending a monthly report to the division adjutants. He also presented the report of the Budget and Finance Committee. The committee has established a policy regarding notification of those applying for funding. The Office of the AIC will communicate to those making a request the action taken by the GEC regarding their funding request. Seven funding requests were submitted to the Budget and Finance Committee.

20. Army Commanders Earnest, Strain and Owens gave reports on the activities in their armies.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - The City of Memphis has removed the official park signs from Confederate Park on Front Street and Jefferson Davis Park on Riverside Drive. It happened Tuesday while many park supporters attended a city council meeting discussing whether to permanently change the parks' names.
A few of weeks ago, the council decided to change the names of Forrest, Confederate and Jefferson Davis Parks. They had already removed a sign at Forrest Park, which really set this whole thing off. Now the other park signs are gone.
"Really it's just a terrible travesty to remove these signs when they have not been changed permanently," stated Lee Millar with the group Sons of Confederate Veterans.
He's right about the names not being permanent. That's why others like City Councilman Jim Strickland are so ho-hum about the signs being taken down.
"I don't think it's a big deal that in of itself," Strickland said.
In February, the Memphis City Council gave the parks temporary names. A committee has been formed to come up with permanent names for Forrest, Confederate and Jefferson Davis Parks, all part of a plan devised by Councilman Strickland.
"Obviously there are hard feelings on both sides," he said. "But, this is a perfect issue that needs to be compromised."
You heard the man - compromise. It's a word that is currently on the endangered species list, especially with politicians. Both sides give and take and before you know it, you've got a plan where everybody gets something.
Maybe Strickland is right; just listen to Lee Millar.
"We'll give the committee a chance. There are some good historians on the committee. Hopefully they'll analyze the parks and realize these are historic parks and a benefit to Civil War tourism and a benefit to the City of Memphis."
Strickland says the naming committee should have its first meeting in the next couple of weeks.

Last signs of three Confederate-themed city parks are removed in Memphis

By Kevin McKenzie
Memphis Commercial Appeal
March 5, 2013

The City Council on Tuesday declined to reinforce a previous decision to rename three Confederate-themed parks in Memphis, but at the parks themselves, city workers removed the signs that still carried the original names of Forrest Park, Jefferson Davis Park and Confederate Park.

Proposed state legislation that would ban renaming public parks dedicated to historical military events, figures and organizations — the same legislation that prompted the council to quickly rename the parks on Feb. 5 — triggered Tuesday’s sign removals, said George Little, the city’s chief administrative officer.

During a City Council debate on Tuesday about voting to pass an ordinance to fortify the decision to rename the parks, council member Lee Harris said that because Mayor A C Wharton’s office had not removed the park signs, the Tennessee Heritage Preservation Act that has passed the House in Nashville might still limit the city’s authority to rename the parks.

The council concerns led to a “prudent” decision to remove the names from signs at the parks, although no monuments were disturbed, Little said.

“We’re holding on to all this until such time as a final decision is made,” Little said.

Harris didn’t move the council to action; a 10-3 vote tabled two ordinances, with the majority choosing to await the work of a committee appointed to gather opinions and the issues. Little said temporary signs are in the works.

Compatriots,
It appears that our Memphis City Council will not be swayed by facts or reason and are determined to erase our Confederate Parks and we must now resort to the courts.

We are strapping in for, perhaps, a long, rough ride. It will take money to see this through – and see it through we must. This is one of the most important Heritage Battles that we have faced in a number of years, so we need to “count the cost.” Does this matter… are we willing to contribute to this fight… if we should loose, what then? How do we put a price on this?

I’m throwing out a challenge – HELP OUR COMPATRIOTS IN MEMPHIS RAISE $60,000 BY THE END OF THE MONTH. It shouldn’t be that hard… this works out to about $2 for every SCV member – and this is EVERYONE’S fight.

· Give generously; send to the address below
· If you are unable to give, encourage your Camp Commander to lead in a giving effort – camp allocation, “pass the hat” collection, whatever
· Division Commanders: take the lead, here. Challenge the other Divisions to meet your contributions; motivate your Camp Commanders
· Distribute this to members of other Heritage organizations (UDC, DAR, SAR, etc.), as well as veterans groups (VFW, American Legion, etc) – this is not just “our Confederate problem”, but part of a larger problem of deconstructing our history as Americans
· Most importantly… PRAY
This is when we decide what we’re all about as an organization… “Meet, Greet, Eat and Retreat?” How ‘bout, “Turn up the Heat; Send our enemies to Defeat!”
Let’s show the world that the name of our one and only President… the name of our most innovative and overachieving General and the simple moniker, “Confederate” still mean something… not only in Memphis, but throughout Dixie and beyond. Please give.http://citizenstosaveourparks.org/
Here, also, is the mailing address:
Citizens To Save Our Parks
P.O. Box 241875
Memphis, TN 38124